PROFINET
PI's industrial Ethernet standard for cyclic IO data exchange between IO controllers and IO devices, standardized in IEC 61158 and IEC 61784.
The network analogy
A Layer 2 real-time stream with its own Ethertype and no IP header, running beside ordinary TCP/IP on the same switched network and prioritized with VLAN tags.
Why it matters for wireless
Cyclic PROFINET frames carry no IP header, so a wireless hop has to bridge them at Layer 2, and their update time and watchdog decide how long a roam can last.
PI describes PROFINET as standardized in IEC 61158 and IEC 617841. Cyclic IO data travels on Layer 2 with Ethertype 0x8892, without TCP/IP, at update times from 250 µs to 512 ms, and VLAN tagging with prioritization is the basis for reliable RT communication. The isochronous class reaches cycles as short as 31.25 µs2 with jitter under 1 µs, using bandwidth reserved in hardware.
PI’s installation table lists WLAN and Bluetooth under Conformance Class A, the basic RT class without hardware bandwidth reservation. Check how your wireless bridge treats the VLAN priority tag before you rely on it.
About this page
Built from 2 sources: 2 protocol owners and alliances. Researched and drafted with AI assistance, then reviewed and approved by Ben Rutter on . How pages are made
- First published
- Last updated
Cite this page
Plain
Ben Rutter. "PROFINET." OT Wireless, published October 5, 2026. https://otwireless.com/glossary/profinet/
APA 7
Rutter, B. (2026, October 5). PROFINET. OT Wireless. https://otwireless.com/glossary/profinet/
BibTeX
@misc{rutter2026profinet,
author = {Rutter, Ben},
title = {{PROFINET}},
year = {2026},
howpublished = {\url{https://otwireless.com/glossary/profinet/}},
organization = {OT Wireless},
}